


The Erlenmeyer Flask

by 30xf



Series: 201 Days Of X Files [24]
Category: The X-Files
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-21
Updated: 2015-09-21
Packaged: 2018-04-22 18:55:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4846577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/30xf/pseuds/30xf





	The Erlenmeyer Flask

Hours after the phone call from Mulder, Scully still couldn't get back to sleep. She had tried to convince herself everything was fine--that the closing of the X-Files was a good thing for her. She could go back to teaching at Quantico and further her career. But she couldn't help thinking about Mulder. He'd sounded so...broken. The X-Files were his life's work, and now it was taken away from him. 

Before she could second guess what she was doing, she was up and putting on a pair of jeans and a shirt. She finger-combed her hair, grabbed a jacket and headed out the door. 

It was nearly four in the morning when she knocked on Mulder's door. Not surprisingly, he answered almost right away. His hair was messy, but she could tell he hadn't been sleeping. "Sorry...I couldn't sleep," she said with an apologetic smile.

He nodded and stepped aside for her to come in. "Join the club."

Mulder made coffee, and the two of them sat in silence on his couch for a long time.

"What now?" Scully finally asked. Her voice was quiet and thick with emotion. The fact that he had been quiet this whole time confirmed to her just how lost he was.

He opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out, so he looked at her. When she met his eye, Mulder simply shrugged. He set his coffee down on the table and bowed his head.

Scully put a hand on his knee. "We'll figure something out," she assured him. When the thought formed in her head, she meant to say 'you'll', but when 'we'll' came out instead, it felt right. 

After a moment, he covered her hand with his and nodded. He leaned back in the couch and sighed. "Trust no one," he said quietly, repeating the words Scully had related to him as Deep Throat's last.

Leaning her elbows on her knees, Scully clasped her fingers together and brought them to rest against her lips. She looked around the darkened apartment, the words 'trust no one' replaying themselves in her head as Deep Throat had said them. She was under no illusion that the closing of the X-Files was what he was referring to. They had gotten close to something on that case; so much so that they had been shut down completely. And the danger to them had increased exponentially. 

She could only hope this might come as a wake-up call to Mulder. His search for the truth had nearly gotten him killed and had gotten the X-Files taken away. Perhaps he'd realize that some questions are better left unanswered; that the risk outweighed the benefit. Scully glanced back at him and he immediately met her gaze. She had hoped to find him lost in thought, or at the very least still confused looking. But instead he looked determined.

"Trust no one," Scully finally repeated, closing her eyes with the worry of exactly what that meant for them.


End file.
